Superior Pub's spin on man into monster mayhem-- and this time it's the shoes with the power to possess! I'd love to see a variation on this concept with a woman as the high heeled killer of men instead. From the July 1952 issue of
Journey into Fear #8.
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ReplyDeleteNice example of the old trope that physical features somehow denote a man's criminal temperament, that real nefariousness comes packaged in a villainous countenance (in this case, that handsome looking, well dressed whatsisface must turn into Al Pacino from Dick Tracey before he can be bad and do evil). And yeah, that is the same impetus that brought us Mr. Hyde and a whole raft of wolf-men.
ReplyDeleteApparently evil men have way worse haircuts, too.
It's a little interesting that a police WOMAN is used instead of a man in disguise, since supposedly women weren't allowed to do anything dangerous in these ' 50s stories. Even in much later stories you see often a policeman in drag waiting for rapists and muggers, like those Barney Miller episodes.
ReplyDeleteWhen they couldn't catch him because of that bounding away he did, I also thought of Spring-Heel Jack. He and Jack the Ripper are almost bound up together by a lot of writers, so it makes sense that this story added that toward the end.
It's been a great run of stories that the internal logic of a possum suffering a really bad concussion.
ReplyDeleteOne question that nobody has caught yet is was Jack the Ripper just an ordinary guy that found the shoes? Or was his evil in the shoes? Were these shoes cursing people down through-out the ages, and Jack the Ripper is actually a pair of shoes?
Why, the question boggles the mind of any brain-damaged possum!
BTW, good job hiding the body in the coal. Nobody would notice that!
I suspect this story started with the title -- which is actually pretty good -- and then was formed from that.
thanks for the comments, more on the way when I can get to it (having a very busy month) --also congratulations to John McGuiggan for winning the contest
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